Prevention of offending and YOT funding

Asurvey has been carried out by the Ministry of Justice and Youth Justice Board as part of a government commitment to carry out an audit of prevention initiatives and then collate best practice across the system to inform further preventative work at national and local levels. It found that, according to youth offending teams (YOTs), 41% police and crime commissioners (who are the largest source of funding for prevention work) do not fund prevention initiatives in their area.

2/3 of the 104 YOTs surveyed reported using their own budgets to fund prevention work and 48% of YOTs said they receive funding from their local Troubled Families programmes.

YOTs have faced shrinking budgets in recent years following cutbacks in central government funding. YOTs told the survey that a lack of funding was the biggest hindrance to their ability to do crime prevention work as well as the lack of a central prevention strategy.